LONDON – U.S-based carrier Delta Air Lines has today taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo aircraft from Airbus, the airline expects to welcome another 26 of the aircraft type this year as part of its larger order for 155 which will take the airline through until 2027 as it moves to modernize its fleet and reduce its carbon footprint with new more modern jets.
Mahendra Nair, Delta’s S.V.P. of Fleet and Tech Ops Supply Chain said: “The delivery of our first A321neo helps to usher in the next era of premium domestic service at Delta,”
“Not only do these aircraft offer the best customer experience in the industry, but these fuel-efficient airplanes further demonstrate our commitment to a more sustainable future.”
Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International said: By adding the latest and largest Airbus single-aisle aircraft to their fleet, the team at Delta Air Lines continues to demonstrate its priority for operational efficiency while pleasing their customers with the most spacious single-aisle cabin in the sky,”
The new aircraft is powered by the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines which offer a 20 percent better fuel efficacy when compared to the current Delta A321ceos.
Rick Deurloo, Pratt & Whitney Chief Commercial Officer said: “Delta has been a leader in the aviation industry for nearly 100 years, and today we celebrate another milestone together with the delivery of their first A321neo aircraft, the GTF-powered A321neo joins more than 200 Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft in Delta’s fleet today.”
New Plane New Look
The new aircraft will also bring a new look for the airline, with delta offering a new 20 seats domestic first-class, with it also offering 42 Delta Comoft+ seats and 132 main cabin seats, all of which will have memory foam cushioning for enhanced customer comfort.
Delta announced the introduction of this new Domestic first class back in January of 2020 when it was originally planning to take delivery of the first A321neo back at the end of the same year, however, as COVID-19 hit and the demand and ability to travel plummeted the airline pushed back the plans to take delivery of its A321neos.
During the airline announcement of the new first-class product, Mauricio Parise, Managing Director of Product Development said: “As an industry leader in innovation, we are always looking for new ways to improve the overall customer experience, customer insights were instrumental to the new design, and we spent hundreds of hours listening to customers so that we could respond with thoughtful improvements. We’ve completely customized every feature on the seat to create a truly unique, premium seating product for domestic First Class.”
A321neos to Be Built in Same Place as A321ceos
The aircraft that was delivered today is expected to enter into service in may once the technical operations team has finished preparing the aircraft for service. Just as with the A321ceos the A321neos are going to be built at Airbus’ facilities in Mobile, Alabama, and Hamburg, Germany.
Once Delta has taken delivery of the remaining A321neo orders its A321 family size will grow to a fleet of 282 aircraft making Delta one of the largest A321 family operators on the planet.
